Boulder – Nathan Maxcey, the only person indicted after a lengthy grand-jury probe of the University of Colorado football program, pleaded guilty Wed nesday to two misdemeanor charges.
Maxcey, 29, a former recruiting aide at CU, was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation and 48 hours of community service after admitting to soliciting a prostitute and official misconduct.
In an interview after the court proceedings, Maxcey said he was relieved the case is closed.
“This has been the 2,000- pound elephant in the room with me for the last” 18 months, Maxcey said. “Now I can concentrate on my life.”
Maxcey’s name surfaced in connection with the scandal in February 2004. As his legal troubles unfolded, the university and its football program faced public scrutiny on several fronts, including allegations of rapes committed by football players and alleged recruitment violations based on using alcohol and sex to lure players.
No other university officials have been convicted of any criminal charges. Still, the pressures took a toll. The school’s athletic director, Dick Tharp, resigned and was soon followed by CU- Boulder chancellor Richard Byyny and university president Betsy Hoffman.
Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy, who has been critical of the university’s athletic department, said Maxcey’s conviction shouldn’t be used as a measuring stick.
“I don’t really see him (Maxcey) as a key person in any of this,” said Lacy. “I think what is more significant is the investigations and the reports” that have resulted in policy changes at CU.
She said university officials have reacted properly to investigations, including one commissioned by Gov. Bill Owens.
“That’s the significant part,” she said. “It’s not who gets a misdemeanor conviction out of this.”
A special prosecutor from Adams County handled the Maxcey case, not Lacy’s office.
Maxcey’s attorney, Patrick Mulligan, said his client was guilty of “poor judgment” but that the public exposure Maxcey received was unfair.
“Mr. Maxcey was caught up in a firestorm not of his own making,” Mulligan said.
Boulder District Court Judge Daniel Hale was also sympathetic when sentencing Maxcey, describing the case as a “sideshow to a circus.”
“Most people make mistakes, but they are not subjected to a grand-jury probe,” Hale said.
Before sentencing Wednesday, Maxcey apologized to the university, his family, friends and the court, saying he accepts responsibility for his actions.
“I never meant to harm anyone,” he told Hale.
Maxcey, who now lives in Texas, admitted to having sex with a woman named Pasha Cowan at his Boulder apartment for $250 in the fall of 2002.
Cowan, who ran a Boulder escort service, said that in 2002 Maxcey paid her more than $2,000 to arrange sex for young men at the Omni Interlocken Hotel in Broomfield. But the grand jury declined to indict Maxcey on pimping charges.
After the court hearing, Maxcey said Cowan’s claims were “ridiculous” and “absurd.”
“Those things didn’t happen,” he said.
Maxcey also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of official misconduct for using his university-supplied cellphone in June 2003 to make more than 47 calls to a “chat line,” ringing up 2,688 minutes and $537.76.
Hale ordered Maxcey to reimburse CU $537 and pay a $500 fine and $138 in court costs.
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303 820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
